432 
AUSTRALIAN TERM1 TIDJE, 
The remarkable fineness of the earth collected by the termites 
for their nests is put to a practical use by the natives of Ceylon,* 
who use the clay to make moulds in which to cast the finer 
specimens of silversmith's work; and it is also made into plastic 
material for fashioning some of their earthenware gods, while in 
India it is also used for polishing purposes. 
In Australia the large mounds are often demolished for the 
sake of the clay they contain; it is mixed up with water and made 
into sun-dried bricks for building houses, while beaten up into 
mortar it makes excellent floors; both here and in South Africa 
the smaller ones are turned into baker's ovens after the interior 
has been burnt out. 
Another remarkable thing about the termites is that no matter 
how dry the season, or parched up the country, if a nest is 
broken no time elapses before it is mended with damp clay, while 
the nest always contains a certain amount of moisture, without 
which the termites could not exist. The question then arises, how 
do they manage to retain this humidity in a rainless and dewless 
country? Dr. Livingstone! remarking on this in South Africa, 
says: — "Can it be that they have the power of combining the 
oxygen and hydrogen of their vegetable food by vital force so as 
to obtain water T 5 
The internal structure of the "Magnetic Nests" of Port 
Darwin, the large round topped ones of the North- West, and the 
pyramidal shaped ones of Cape York, though differing very much 
in their external architecture, all, with slight modifications, agree 
with the Shoalhaven termitaria in their internal structure. 
The next group of termite nests are formed by the members of 
the genus Eutermes, which form a very distinct group, in which 
the soldiers, instead of having double scissor-like jaws, are pro- 
vided with heads prolonged into pike-like foreheads which gives 
them the name of "nasuti" soldiers. It was at one time a 
* Sir J. Emerson Tennant. Sketches of the Nat. History of Ceylon, 
chap. xi. 1861. 
.+ Dr. Livingstone. Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, 
London. 1857. 
